George Russell issues McLaren verdict after Red Bull accusations

George Russell has asserted he has no concerns regarding the legality of McLaren's F1 car following its strong start to the season.

The Woking-based outfit has taken five grand prix victories at the opening six events, emerging as the clear favourite for title success this year.

However, the team has faced scrutiny from Red Bull who has carried out its own investigation into McLaren's tyre cooling measures.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown responded to the allegation by drinking from a bottle labelled 'Tire Water' during the Miami GP weekend, a reference to suggestions the team is illegally using water to keep its tyres cool.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff declared in Miami that he had “no doubt” the MCL39 is operating within the regulations.

Asked for his take on the legality of McLaren's car, Russell told Sky F1: “I don’t believe they’re doing anything untoward.

“They’ve been this dominant condition for 18 months now, so you’ve got to give them credit where credit’s due, and the rest of us have to improve. 

“We have ideas ourselves where we can improve in this regard, but that’s a long-term process, and that’s a bit of a bummer.

“But this is Formula 1, when there’s a team dominating, it’s very challenging to catch back up.”

McLaren 'still the best' on their worst day - George Russell

McLaren enjoyed a dominant run to the chequered flag in Miami last weekend, with race winner Oscar Piastri crossing the line 37 seconds ahead of the next non-McLaren car.

As McLaren continues to stretch its lead in the championships, Russell highlighted its pace is so great that even its bad days still leave it at the head of the pecking order.

“What we saw from them in the likes of China and Japan, it’s probably their worst case scenario,” he said.

“What we’re seeing in the hot race of Bahrain and Miami is their best case scenario. 

“On their worst day, they’re still the best. On their best day, they’re the best. 

“We want to keep on improving. It’s clearly down to tyre temperatures because they’re just making the step when it’s really hot. 

“Max [Verstappen] has said it once or twice already as well - it’s like nine teams are doing something wrong, it’s only one team that has got it really right. So we’ve got to improve.”